Sunday, April 19, 2015

Review- MISS FURY: SENSATIONAL SUNDAYS 1941-1944

Collects
Miss
Fury
Sunday Strip 1-158b,
originally published on April 6, 1941- April 16, 1941.

Writer
and Artist: Tarpe Mills

This
first volume in the series was released after the second one. I loved
the first (second) book when I read it, but some story elements
eluded me early on in that book because they were plotlines that
carried over from this one. That wrong has been righted with the
release of this book. This strip was originally titled Black Fury,
a nod to the black leopard skin costume that our femme fatale, Marla
Drake, wore. In truth she doesn't wear it very much as the series
progresses. While she is billed as a superhero, Miss Fury is in truth
a World War II spy strip with dizzying plotline twists. Mills juggled
so many plates that it's nothing short of a miracle that she didn't
drop any.

There
are some cheesecake and S & M elements here, made all the more
curious considering that the strip was written and drawn by a woman.
This was a true rarity for an adventure strip in this era. I wonder
if Mills was pandering to her predominately male audience or if she
genuinely enjoyed presenting this sort of thing.

Being
a weekly strip, there were weeks and sometimes a month or more
without so much as an appearance by the supposed star of the strip,
and you know what? It doesn't matter one bit. Some of these
supporting characters are as interesting as Miss Fury. Mills' artwork
is unique and adds a certain charm to this strip. I am buying more
and more of these strip books these days, and the ones from the IDW
Library Of American Comics imprint are some of the best out there.

Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The
OCD zone-While
this is presented in an oversized format, I have no idea if this is
presented in the same size at the strips originally appeared.

Linework
and Color restoration: Scans with the yellowing removed. Most
look really good but there are a few pages that are from inferior
sources, possibly even scanned at lower resolution than the rest of
the book. All of the problems found with old four color comics are
present here (line bleed, off register printing, etc.).

Paper
stock: Beautiful, super thick off-white uncoated stock.

Binding:
Smyth sewn binding, lays flat. Built in ribbon bookmark. Those aren't
my cup of tea but seem to be standard in many of these strip
collections.

Hardback
cover notes:
The dustjacket has a dull finish that requires careful handling. The
hardback has a vintage feeling casewrap which I find to be appealing.